• Contemporary

    Dance Me to the Stars by Marie Astor

     

    By Marie Astor
    Romance Lives Forever welcomes Marie Astor to the blog! Take
    it away, Marie, and dance us to the stars…
    Twenty-eight-year-old Claire Chatfield has everything a girl
    could possibly wish for: looks, a promising career at New
    York’s top architectural firm, and an engagement ring from one of New York’s most eligible
    heir-bachelors! Life should be a dream, but when Alec Brunell, a sexy tango
    dancer, moves into the apartment one floor above from Claire’s, he unwittingly
    awakens Claire’s old insecurities, making her question her life choices. Will
    Claire brave her fears and allow herself to take a chance on Alec, or will she
    continue to play it safe?
    In order to secure his place as his father’s successor,
    thirty-three-year-old David Lawson must settle down with a wife befitting the
    future head of Lawson Enterprises – and who could fit the prerequisite better
    than the stunningly beautiful and incredibly bright Claire Chatfield? There is
    just one glitch – David Lawson is in love with another woman – a Hollywood
    Legend Claudia Block.
    A successful tango instructor, Alec Brunell has never lacked
    for women’s attention, but he finds himself at a loss when faced with his
    downstairs neighbor, Claire Chatfield. Upon hearing of his occupation, most
    women swoon with desire, but Claire runs for the door. Still, her iciness only
    adds fuel to his fire, and Alec is determined to change Claire’s view of him.
    Claudia Block has been basking in the limelight of Hollywood for more years
    than she cares to admit. While she still has her looks, she would much rather
    not mention her age, which makes her unconventional affair with young and
    handsome David Lawson that much more difficult for her to give up.
    Dance Me to the Stars is a love story about finding one’s
    perfect match – sometimes following one’s heart is as convoluted as learning
    the steps of tango.
    Dance Me to the Stars has been selected in the first round
    of entries in the General Fiction category in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel
    contest this year.

    About Marie Astor

    Marie Astor is the author of contemporary romance novels Dance Me to the Stars, On the Rim of Love, and Lucky Charm. Marie Astor has also
    authored a collection of short stories A
    Chance Encounter and Other Stories
    . Marie’s latest contemporary romance
    novel, Dance Me to the Stars, has
    been selected in the first round of entries in the General Fiction category in
    the Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest this year. Currently, Marie is working on
    her next novel – a first installment in her romantic suspense series.
    Author Website: http://marieastor.com/
  • Memoir

    Hillary Peak: On Wings of Love

    Hillary, welcome to Romance Lives Forever. Tell us, what is the most important thing you do for your career?

    I keep writing and keep promoting! Even on those days that it seems like it isn’t possible to make it.
    What do you enjoy most about life?
    I love to have fun. My mother once told me that wasn’t what life was about, but I find that it is the only thing really. I love hanging out with my husband and our two year old. The joy she finds in things makes me so happy.
    What did you learn from writing your first book?
    I can do better—and I did. My next two novels are progressively better.
    If you could give the younger version of yourself advice what would it be?
    Do something you love. You spend WAY too much time working to not enjoy it.
    What are some jobs you’ve done that would end up in a book?
    Most of my jobs ended up in my first novel, Cappuccino is the Answer for Job Dissatisfaction. In fact, I started writing because I quit a crazy job after two days. People would have tears rolling down their cheeks when I told them about it. I figured I’d write in down and send it into Reader’s Digest—instead, I wrote a novel.
    List two authors we would find you reading when taking a break from your own writing.
    I would read anything J.K. Rowling writes.
    If Diane Satterfield ever writes another novel (her first was The Thirteenth Tale), I’ll be reading it.
    If money were not an object, where would you most like to live?
    San Francisco.
    What song would best describe your life?
    You and me against the world.
    As a child, what was your favorite thing about school?
    Talking to friends!
    Please Fill in the Blanks
    I love pizza with mushrooms and olives.
    I’m always ready for shopping.
    When I’m alone, I read.
    You’d never be able to tell, but I played the piano really well at one time (i.e. I played Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony for a recital).
    If I had a halo it would be slightly tarnished.
    If I could do anything, I’d go on Dancing with the Stars!
    I can never relax because I’m constantly thinking about what else I need to do.

    Wings of Hope

    Wings of Hope (Kindle)

    Wings of Hope (Paperback)

     
    Blurb: The letter said he was dying, that’s all Jules Weinstein knows when she leaves her life in San Francisco and moves to New York City to be with her father. She goes for the remarkable opportunity to really know her father. She never dreamed he had liberated a concentration camp, dealt cards to Bugsy Siegel or saved the life of a Black Panther. Wings of Hope is a road trip through the memories of a man making peace with his life. Little does she know that by getting to know her father, she will find herself. While her father struggles with whether his life was meaningful, Jules discovers that her father’s last gift to her is the ability to reach for her dreams. Her journey teacher her that “the goodbye” is sometimes the most heartbreakingly beautiful part of life.
    Genre: Literary Fiction
    My Booklist
    Wings of Hope
    Cappuccino is the Answer for Job Dissatisfaction
    Books Coming Soon
    Justice Scorned, a legal thriller
    Find Me Here
    Website: http://www.hillaryepeak.com/
  • Paranormal

    Touch of the Gods: The Wager by DX Luc

    Touch of the Gods.

    Have You Been Touched?

    Love and war are usually opposing forces. So, what happens if they make a bet? Everyone has someone, right? But is everything really fair
    in love and war? Heph isn’t the perfect guy, at least not where he lives and
    being a divorced bachelor is the worst. Pressured by his brother and nephew to
    find a mate, he moves to a new place, determined find ‘The One’.
    He finds her living next door and when they meet? They
    nearly go at it on the front lawn. Heph knows he has to do this the right way,
    but he just can’t keep his hands off of the curvy, full-bodied Vanessa. Once
    he touches her, it sets a catastrophe into motion, and he may lose the first
    woman who could ever love him.
    – – –
    Tell us about the main character in your current book. What is he like?
    Hephaestus, the god of inventors, blacksmiths, and
    volcanoes. Sounds great right? To be immortal and all powerful. Well, for this
    guy, he’s hated by all the other gods, divorced from  Aphrodite. He’s lame
    and unloved making his self esteem not the greatest. But he’s loyal to his
    family, and has a bit of hope that his day for happiness will come.
    If your main
    character was here today, what would he say is his strongest point?
    The strongest point for Heph would be the fact that he’s an
    excellent handy man. He can fix anything and everything.
    Does he think he has
    a weakness? (If so, what does he think it is? What does his lover think it is?
    What does his enemy think it is?)
    Being the everyday punching bag, his self esteem is the
    weakness Hephaestus lives with. Because of the accident he suffered as a baby,
    he has a limp. For a god, any imperfection makes one unworthy. So, he suffers
    with image problems and is pretty anti-social.
    What drives your hero
    to do the things he does? What makes him want to be the “good guy?”
    Hephaestus is a loving spirit. He works hard to please his
    customers and those he loves. Never the type to do things half way, the way
    Heph lives is by giving 100%.
    What’s your main
    character’s favorite guilty pleasure?
    Listening to rap music and singing it as loud as possible.
    If you didn’t know
    how old you were how old would you be?
    Physically Hephaestus would look to be in his twenties. But
    in actuality he’s close to the age when man first came to be.
    A biography has been
    written about you. What do you think the title would be in six words or less?
    How To Embarrass Your Older Brother.
    If money were not an
    object, where would you most like to live?
    Hawaii.
    Hephaestus is the god of volcanoes.
    He’d see that they stayed inactive.
    What song would best
    describe your life?
    The Way I Am by Eminem
    If you were a tool,
    what would people use you to do?
    Hammer in things. Heph loves his hammer.
    Picture yourself as a
    store. Considering your personality and lifestyle, what type of products would
    be sold there?
    Every tool and power tool known to man.
    As a child, what was
    your favorite thing about school?
    Heph lived among humans after being cast from Olympus. His favorite class was in the blacksmith forges.
    Tell us an
    embarrassing story that has to do with a pet. If you have no pets, a story
    about a significant other will do. ^_^
    Hephaestus once owned a pig. He later learned that the pig
    was in fact his former neighbor who had been cursed by his older brother Ares.
    Sadly that pig had been sold for more tools and the neighbor’s wife wasn’t too
    thrilled with him.
    If you came with a
    warning label, what would it say?
    Watch out for the Prince
    Albert. It vibrates.
    Please Fill in the
    Blanks (as the character)
    I love pizza with a bottle of tequila.
    I’m always ready for the next shoe to drop.
    When I’m alone, I long to be accepted.
    You’d never be able to tell, but I’m a really big teddy
    bear.
    If I had a halo it would be melted
    after working in the forge.
    If I could fly I’d never have fallen from Olympus in the first place.
    I can never like my brother Ares because he’s a
    douche bag.
    Other books by D. X.
    Luc
    Down the Yellow Brick Road:
    Finding Homesickness
    — New Concepts Publishing
    A Zombie Hunter’s Holiday — New Concepts Publishing
    About D. X. Luc
    An avid reader since I was a child, I never found a book I
    disliked. Mostly, you could find me lost in Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, or
    Ernest Hemingway, and my most favorite, Ancient Greek literature. Taking my
    love of books, I started writing poetry, short stories, and even helped with
    screen writes for my drama club.
    By the time I was in my teens, my older sister introduced me
    to my first romance novel, The Hawk and the Dove by Virginia Henley. The moment
    I fell into the world of love, I was hooked, and my addiction grew
    until I found myself delving deeper into the erotic. After being convinced that I had the skills to try my hand
    at writing, I went to work on my first story Down the Yellow Brick Road:
    Finding Home. And since being published, I’ve not looked back.
    Now, as a busy mom who homeschools, drives to activities,
    and manages to find time to just cuddle with my husband of ten years, I have to
    say, I love being naughty when I get the chance. It’s freeing and I wouldn’t
    want it any other way!
    Books Coming Soon
    Just had a new release Touch of the Gods: The Wager on
    Amazon
    Find Me Here
    Website: http://welcome-to-the-island-of-dxluc.blogspot.com/
  • Paranormal

    Neptune the Briarhearted by DN Lyons

    Neptune the Briarhearted.

    Today, Romance Lives Forever is featuring a long-time friend, muse, and critique partner. I’m going to let her take over the blog… stand back, world. =^_^=  You have been warned.

    – – –
    File: D.N. “Nicki” Lyons
    Age: 27.1 years old
    Offending Document: Neptune the
    Briarhearted – Book I: The Beginning
    Insanity Level: Bipolar Schizophrenic.
    So I woke up this morning with a blistering sinus headache.
    I mean, oh my God, fires of Hell, someone smashed me in the face with a spanner
    sinus headache. What do you think I did about that?
    Yeah, it wasn’t too unusual. So I just sat down, watched
    People’s Court, and drank a disgusting concoction made of beets, spinach and
    assorted fruit. Then I went to the gym and lifted almost one and a half times
    my body weight. Pretty standard.
    You see, I’m the kind of girl who lurches out of bed in the
    morning, cusses out the cat when her blanket smells like pee, and drinks either
    a metric fuckton of caffeine for breakfast or has nothing at all. I like my
    mornings like I like my Tetris games: hard and fast.
    Recently I published my first novel, Neptune
    the Briarhearted – Book I: The Beginning. It’s a lovely little tale, filled
    with humor, dark Lords, demons and magic, all mixed up in a pot with a
    black-skinned, blonde-haired Wizard. Genetic limitations have no meaning to the
    Planetaries.
    This is in the same world (though far before that time) as “What
    Flavor Are You?” a short story that is definitely not meant for the kiddies.
    But this one—Neptune the Briarhearted, that
    is—is YA. Harry Potter kinda stuff, or Lord of the Rings. Not adult in
    content—and kids like Wizards and Elves a lot more than adults do, to hear my
    local librarians talk. (The hand-drawn graphic novel type cover is a plus.)
    So…if you want it, you can either order a preorder copy
    directly from me (only 59 of the limited print are left, and they are signed
    and numbered in the back, autographed in the front), or rush to your local
    bookstore to have them carry it. If you ask Amazon really nicely, they might
    put it on the Kindle. ^_^
    And hey—Don’t be a stranger! Come on over to my neck of the
    woods sometime.
    Buy a first print: (PayPal is the only online payer I use
    right now. But snail mail or Western Union is
    also o.k.…just no cash. Personal checks are fine too.)
    locke.saintaugustin (at) rocketmail.com
    Get in touch: (Add me as a friend! I don’t bite. And if your
    kiddies want a poster, ask here.)